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Market Insights

In examining today’s marketplace and the direction in which it appears to be moving in the future, it is clear that the Internet has become essential to all Canadians, bringing global connectivity and making it part of people’s everyday lives. This new reality has significantly disrupted Canada’s audio and video marketplace—often in striking ways, though sometimes to varying degrees. Traditional media will be forced to evolve in response to this new reality.

The growth in broadband Internet — faster speeds, more data — is driven by video and audio consumption.

Internet Trends

Canadians say they would forego pleasures like fast food, alcohol, chocolate or even coffee for a year if they had to do so to keep their Internet access. The Internet is a gateway to the world, to entertainment on an unprecedented scale and to multiple forms of media and communication. It allows a person to precisely tailor what they consume, to consume what they want on demand and to access content easily. In this wireless age, it lets them watch and listen to what they want, where they want and on the device of their choice. Smart speakers are now even making the Internet experience screenless.

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In Canada, however, this new reality isn’t evenly distributed. It’s happening at a different pace in the French-language market than in the English-language market and differently for various age demographics. We can see clear differences between how and where certain age groups spend their media time and the rate at which they are taking up online devices and services. Also Canadians in smaller, rural or remote communities may not have access to the broadband speeds available to those in urban markets.

“With my age, [I am] not as aware of technology, and [I] don’t know the cost”

Canadians rely on Internet access across diverse areas of their lives, from how they sell products and run businesses to how they bank, access government services, seek employment, search for information, get around and communicate. But the true driving force behind the rise of broadband Internet in this country is demand for real-time entertainment, and particularly video, which accounts for two-thirds of the capacity of fixed networks and one-third of the capacity of mobile networks.

“If you’re not at your WiFi and you have to do it over the data, over the cell network, then you’re going to be greatly limited by the amount of data you can use.”

Figure 9: Video and audio dominate broadband Internet consumption

North American fixed networks:
Peak period traffic composition by category

North American mobile networks:
Peak period traffic composition by category

These Circular Charts show the Peak period traffic composition by category: North American fixed and mobile networks. On mobile networks, one third of traffic is for real time entertainment (e.g. YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music and Google Music). On fixed networks, two thirds of traffic is for real time entertainment (e.g. Netflix and YouTube).